Marshall JMP-1 vs. Mesa TriAxis

[UVmanMike]

*Which, in your opinion, is better? I've heard the Mesa takes it in features(and also in price), but does it beat *Marshall's crunch machine? I'm in the market for a good pre-amp, and I have about $1050 to spend. I am pretty sure this would cover a used TriAxis and definetly a JMP, but I can't try them out. You guys have never let me down before- opinions please.

[rgr]

How many channels do you need? *Other options would be Soldano, the Hafler Triple Giant (if you can find one used), CAE (don't know what they cost), Egnater, Engl, ... *

Just thought I'd throw out some more options. *I'm partial to the 'Marshall' sound over the 'Mesa' sound but I haven't tried either preamp. *I know you can pick up the Marshalls for around half of what you want to spend then you could have enough left for a good effects unit too. *

$0.02,
Roger

[UVmanMike]

One clean and at least 2 dirty. I like the "set and forget" type thinking as I don't like to tweak my amp for different lead, rythym,blues,etc. sounds. This has me leaning towards the TriAxis, but a Marshall with a good effects is a good idea. I am totally into analog stompboxes, so maybe a good eq and a channel selector would be wiser than an effects. I'll check Harmony Central and take a look at the others mentioned, thanks for the input.

[bammbamm]

Sorry, but you had to ask with me around, Triaxis, HANDS DOWN ! You get the tone of any boogie made to date. Its just a monster box ! The JMP's I heard were a bit thin comparatively. I am a HUGE boogie fam. and I like to think I'm open minded enough to be able to select othe good preamps. My fav is definately the Tri. I would try out as many as you can get your hands on. That is the best way to really see what works for you.
Bamm

(Edited by bammbamm at 12:59 am on Jan. 10, 2001)

[UVmanMike]

I am worried that the TriAxis may not re-create all of the Boogie sounds. I have been playing Mesa all of my life from DC-2s, 3s, 5s, Trem-o-verbs, Marks I,IIb,IV ....... and have settled on the versital Nomad 45 2x12. I LOVE Mesa, but soooooo many people, even pro's, use the JMP-1 by choice and not for value. If the TriAxis is all that, without a doubt it's no.1. I have a Strategy 500 being shipped as we speak for a power amp, so now I need to make a decision. So far it's all Mesa, any Marshall fans out there?

[alienx]

Ok... The triaxis is "the" pre-amp in my opinion. You can play clean, crunch, distortion, hi-gain... whatever, it's all there and at a superb quality IMO. I don't have a Triaxis, cause I cannot afford it. I had a JMP-1 and was in love with its overdrive and distortion sounds. Crunch and clean are not the strengths of that amp IMO. Now I own a VooduValve and use from time to time Marshall Guv'nor 2 and H&K Tubeman infront of it. I get the fraction of Marshall sounds that I need/like in that way. If I were you, in which I mean having played Mesa amps since ever, then I would go with the Triaxis. Lateron, if I still would miss a certain Marshall sound then I would check a used JMP-1 or the pedals. Good luck!

[tomizm]

Mike, I would definately go with the Mesa. *Having said that (shooting myself in the foot) if you do decide to get a TriAxis, I've got a bid on one for **** right now ending tomorrow. *I'm hoping I dont have to butt heads with someone in the last few minutes and REALLY jack the price up. *There's another TriAxis coming up shortly after that one.........so......hint hint nudge nudge...... I guess Im just saying I dont wanna duke it out with someone on this forum. *The market is soaked with TriAxis', so dont worry about not finding one.
I know this sounds selfish, Im very aware of that. *Nothing personal.

[davenit]

Mike, I have just researched the crap out of all of this. I have traveled from state to state to hear just about all preamps. My conclusions and, of course, they are just my opinion...

Triaxis, nice gain, but typical boogie low end muddiness.
Egnater, GREAT clean and mid distortion. High gain is way too compressed
Marshall, with some mods (tubes) a good preamp but just not as much gain as some others.
Bogner - Fish is one hell of a preamp. Almost bought it but just way too expensive, even used
Hafler - Triple giant. Loved this preamp. If I can find one used I WILL buy it.

Soldano. X99r. IMO the pre-amp to own. Just saw one sell for 1200 used. Full midi. You can control the gain with a foot controller. It is totally over the top. You have to be a Soldano fan to appreciate this amp. I have seen x88s go for around a grand. Find a Rockman Midi octopus to control the switching and you are in. And for real fun I through a Budda Zenmaster in front of the x99 as a line driver. GOOD GOD, THATS THE TONE!!!!

These are all my opinion and my preference in sound. Just through some Telefunkens in my old Hafler T3 and it sounds incredible. The tubes cost $100 for the pair but well worth the price... still want the soldano though...

Let the flaming begin...

Dave

[Darin Helfand]

UVmanMike,

I went through this same thing. *If you really just like to set and forget it, then do NOT even consider the Triaxis. *It is a great preamp, but it is not easy to get a great sound. *There is a lot of work involved. *I actually had both Triaxis and the JMP-1 at the same time. *I liked both a lot, but got rid of the Triaxis. *Not only is it overly complicated, it is gigantic. *It is the only preamp that I have ever seen that is actually 18-19" deep. *That is too big in my opinion. *The Marshall is about 3-4" in comparision. *I agree with some of the other guys, in that if you like to set and forget it I would consider a CAE preamp, or a Soldano or at least something similiar. *I have a line on a CAE and a Triaxis if you want either of those. *You might also want to look at the Yamaha DG 1000. *It is quite simply the best sounding preamp I ever heard and it even has motorized knobs. *The most important thing about it is that it is cheap. *I just picked one up for $185.

[alienx]

$185 for a DG1000... Great deal, congrats!

[Darin Helfand]

Yeah, it seems that people are so swarming to the Line 6 line (great amps) that they never checked out the Yamaha and thus the prices have dropped. *The preamp is super cheap (although not as cheap as I got it--there is a story about that) because it does not have any effects, etc.. *The heads and combos have the effects.... *The preamp has one thing only---TONE. *I swear that if you come across one, you have to try it. *A lot of top name guys: Ty Tabor, Richie Kotzen, Alan Holdsworth, Doyle Bramhill II, etc..... use it. *That is where I heard it first. *Doyle Bramhill II whose dad played and wrote with SRV has very much a SRV sound. *He used a lot of vintage amps. *I caught him playing on tv and thought that he sounded great. * That is when I realized that his entire backline was made up of the Yamaha DG line.

[davenit]

Darin, how do you like the CAE? It is the only one I can't track down to hear.

Thanks
Dave

[Darin Helfand]

There is a reason that you will find one in almost every pro rack. *It is simply an awesome preamp. *You can not go wrong with one. *A CAE preamp into a VHT power amp has been somewhat of an industry standard. *Another good thing about the CAE which also goes for any high end preamp (Bogner, Soldano, etc...) is that it will hold its value, should you decide to sell it. *I would have to rate it up there with the Soldano and Bogner in sound. *If you like those you will probably like this as well. *They are all excellent. *If you are interested in one, I know of one for sale and might be able to get you a deal. *

[rgr]

I agree with the guys who have said that if you want set it and forget it, the Triaxis and the JMP are probably overkill programming-wise. *I used to have MIDI controlled gear with space to store 100s of patches and found out that I only used 3 or 4 basic preamp sounds and changed some of the effects. *Often I would get "option anxiety" programming sounds, "if I tweak this parameter, then this one, oops back to this one, now add this, that's cool save it, now if I do this..." *and decided I was doing too much programming and not enough playing. *

So, I went back to a head, it's a stereo head with 2 60W TUBE power sections and the preamp has alot of tonal options so I have a setup that really works for me. *It's basically the same as a 2-3 channel preamp and tube power amp in the same box. *I've thought about going back to rack stuff, but if I did it would have the same results, I would probably use a CAE, Soldano or Triple Giant pre (if I could find one) and a tube power amp with an effects unit in between. *I would probably look for a Rocktron Multi-Valve or Replifex for effects 'cause you can program them to do you channel switching with patch changes. *I would still use my pedals in front too, can't live without a real wah, DS-1 or SD-1, volume pedal and the occassional dash of Phase 100. *

Having said that, the ultimate rack unit to me would be a rackmount Soldano SLO, sure it's mono but the tone (if you are a Soldano kinda guy).

Of course, if you are a total Mesa guy, the Triaxis may be the only one that gives you the most important thing, the sound you are looking for.

$0.02 more,
Roger

[tomizm]

Okay, I hate you guys now.......I'm reconsidering my TriAxis bid on **** right now.
What does the Ya'mama preamp normally cost brand new?
I saw a combo once and the motorized knobs were cool enough to make me want to buy the dern thing on the spot.